Having read The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo on holiday last year, and having enjoyed it enough to want to read the next instalments in the trilogy (although admittedly not having been blown away by it, initially finding it difficult to "get into"), I read The Girl Who Played with Fire earlier this year, and could not put it down; the characters had all been developed nicely from the first book, and there was little introduction needed as to who was who.
The second book ends on something of a "cliffhanger" and therefore I quickly got round to reading the final, and longest, book of the trilogy. It is difficult to write a review for those not having read the second book and therefore runining the surprises within, but this one concerns conspiracy and cover up with the Swedish Secret Service, and refers to a number of events which have actually happened in Swedish politics (for us reading in England, and unaware of these events, there is a useful page or two of notes at the end, so we understand the events being referred to!), adding further weight to how things are covered up by those in power.
Personally, I found this one the most in-depth of the series, and it suffered a little (and I really do mean a little) for this - there are so many different stories going on, and so many characters with similar sounding names, it is sometimes difficult to keep up, particularly if you are not blessed with the ability to be able to sit down and devour it in sizeable chunks; it will be interesting to see how the film has been adapted, as it surely cannot cover every story going on here in two (or so) hours! In addiiton, the "Girl" is more of a side-story in this one (although the events of her past, and which have been covered in earlier books, certainly form a main part of the story), spending much of the time where she ends the second one (sorry, don't want to give away again!). However, the pace really ramps up come around page 500, and the last 240 (or so pages) are some of the most exciting of the trilogy.
Another minor gripe; some of the stories which have appear in earlier novels (remember Blomkvists daughter, who plays an important part in solving "the Harriet mystery" in Part I? Salander's twin?) are left hanging, and you wonder whether the purported unfinished fourth novel developed on them.
In all, a fantastic trilogy (which as a trilogy would certainly receive 5 stars), which has brought something different to the overcrowded crime genre market, with my personal favourite being the second instalment. |
